“Hard times are coming,” declared author Ursula K. Le Guin in a short but rousing speech after receiving the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Those challenges, she explained, made it essential to have writers “who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society... See more

One of my deepest held beliefs is that creativity, in its many forms, is humanity’s greatest gift, and our most potent source of strength. We’re at our best both individually and as a species when we’re creatively and courageously confronting the world in front of us. The Pattern is the greatest threat to creativity in all its forms. And it's going... See more